


French Toast of Doom

by Rosenth0rne



Category: Invader Zim
Genre: F/M, Fluff, M/M, Membrane doesn't know how to cook, Multi, Other, Professor Membrane/Reader - Freeform, Professor Membrane/You - Freeform, XReader
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-18
Updated: 2020-04-07
Packaged: 2020-10-20 23:31:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 20,889
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20683754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rosenth0rne/pseuds/Rosenth0rne
Summary: This was inspired by an awesome submission I received but this fic went completely haywire. This takes place a couple of months after Enter the Florpus and Membrane still can’t cook to save his life. He’ll probably end it quicker if he’s not careful. He does not like the fact that he can fail at something so trivial as cooking. Foodio has to be sent in for repairs and Gaz wants French Toast. That doesn’t seem to be all she wants though.Professor Membrane X Ambiguous Reader, or at least leading up to it.I was raised with the idea that you have to see someone at their worst in order to realize what you were getting yourself into. Well, this is one of those times.  I was also raised believing that cooking things from scratch was a skill everyone should have under their belt.Artwork by Siro-cyll





	1. Unexpected

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This was inspired by an awesome submission I received but this fic went completely haywire. This takes place a couple of months after Enter the Florpus and Membrane still can’t cook to save his life. He’ll probably end it quicker if he’s not careful. He does not like the fact that he can fail at something so trivial as cooking. Foodio has to be sent in for repairs and Gaz wants French Toast. That doesn’t seem to be all she wants though.
> 
> Professor Membrane X Ambiguous Reader, or at least leading up to it.
> 
> I was raised with the idea that you have to see someone at their worst in order to realize what you were getting yourself into. Well, this is one of those times. I was also raised believing that cooking things from scratch was a skill everyone should have under their belt.
> 
> Pictures by [Siro-cyll.](https://66.media.tumblr.com/e414674989710e583e5d7c40c6d40265/7e8b160a18d7f2bc-2a/s540x810/f3a64578e5916d3393c9a9e8cc63167350356e05.png)

There you were. Curled up. Cozy. Slowly waking up on your day off. You didn’t even want to think about any plans just yet. The morning sun was just peeking over the blackout curtains, giving the room a soft glow. With a stretch, you entertained the idea of getting up but, instead, you rolled over onto your other side with a small huff. Nah. Not yet.

You began to settle back in only to be dislodged from the soft surface and thrown face-first to the hard floor by your bed from an explosion nearby. The sound of the doorbell downstairs seconds later made your eyes pop open. Begrudgingly, you pushed yourself up off the floor while grumbling under your breath and headed for the front door. You already had a good idea of who it was. 

Upon opening the door, you found the neighbor’s magenta-haired daughter standing there, partially singed and covered in some sticky substance that looked like raw egg. She hadn’t changed out of her pajamas.

“Again?” you sighed. 

“Yeah. Again,” the eleven-year-old nodded. “This time he tried upgraded his Super Toast to Super French Toast.”

“This is the third time this month, Gaz.”

“I know, but he just won’t accept the fact he can’t cook, not without Foodio, anyway.”

“Where is Foodio? I thought he was fixed.”

“Dad had to take him back to the lab. Something about corn being lodged somewhere and he can’t seem to figure out where.”

“Should I even ask about Clembrane?”

“All he makes is pudding. He won’t even attempt to make anything else and I want french toast.”

You let out a sigh and pinched the bridge of your nose. Membrane refused to back down from the challenge of cooking which almost always ended up like this when he wasn’t assisted with an invention of his. But of course, if Gaz wanted it, her father was going to do his damnedest to try to make it. This made you crack a slight smirk. That man adored his kids. Besides, if Clembrane really was a clone of the professor, he probably would have the same trouble.

“All right. I’ll be over once I get dressed. Go get cleaned up.”

“Okay. Oh, and bring your extinguisher. Ours is empty.”

——————————————-

Many people have gushed about how “lucky you are” to be living next to the world-renowned scientist and his family and asked you what it was like. You would just grin and say “great” with some enthusiasm but if you were honest, the correct word would be “tedious”, even more so with the addition of a large, red bulbous man who believes he was the scientist and didn’t understand the concept of personal space to the household. He already tried to introduce himself to you and it wasn’t the best first impression. You could have gone your entire life without something that didn’t even look human trying to force-feed you horrible tasting pudding as a ‘welcome gesture’. 

You made your way over to the neighbor’s house with a full extinguisher under your arm, crossing the war-torn lawns that were in the process of healing. It had been a good three to four months after that terrifying ordeal with what the boy child called the ‘Florpus Hole’. You didn’t know exactly what it was and you really didn’t want to know. You were of the opinion that if Professor Membrane was not worried, you shouldn’t be either. He was the world’s smartest man, surely he would have raised an alarm if something bad was going to happen. 

When everything had started to go down, you had treated it as you would have a natural disaster and made sure to take shelter in your basement with a couple of other neighbors who were smart enough to follow you. You were sure the kids were with their father at that point too and believed them to be safe. Not that you could go find them if you thought they weren’t. After you closed the door to your basement, some of the room had collapsed and trapped you and your neighbors inside for what felt like an eternity. A work crew had to dig you out. To this day, you wonder about what the hell had happened to make such a momentous day go south so quickly, though you did find it odd that Membrane just handed off his work to another ‘scientist’. You made the mistake of asking Dib and the boy just rambled on as if he had just ingested several espressos and a Red Bull. 

Anyway, once things had settled down and started to go back to normal, Professor Membrane had offered to help rebuild the neighborhood, starting with your home. It was nearly completed at this point, so you decided that you would start focusing on helping the other neighbors with whatever they needed, including the Membrane household.

You arrived at their door but before you could knock, the door swung opened to reveal an already dressed Dib ready to go do… whatever he normally does. You were afraid to ask.

“Oh! Y/N! Sorry, I’ve got to go before Clembrane realizes I didn’t go to the bathroom! Dad and Gaz are in the kitchen, Clembrane is out in the backyard trying to figure out the grill again!” he rambled on and rushed past you as fast as he could. “You didn’t see me!”

“Gotcha,” you nodded. Gaz must have pawned Dib off on Clembrane again to get the creature out of the way. The boy scampered off as you entered the house to assess the damage. It had to be bad enough to launch you out of bed like that.

Black smoke poured out of the kitchen and you could hear Gaz and Membrane in the next room.

“Come on, Dad. It’s not that bad. Really. You tried your best.”

Membrane’s voice was muffled as if he was either under something or hiding his face. You couldn’t even make out what he was saying, but he sounded upset. Entering the kitchen, you found the oven in shambles and smoking heavily with scorch marks staining the walls around it. Everything was covered in raw egg. Burnt bread slices were plastered on every surface. A syrup bottle had somehow exploded on the fridge, coating it down each side. An empty butter container laid on the floor with a puddle of yellow around it. Was the explosion that hot to melt an entire container of butter? All you knew was if you didn’t watch your step in this disaster zone, you were going to die. Or end up with stickiness in areas you didn’t know you had for weeks. You didn’t know which was worse.

_What in the fresh hell happened here?_

Gaz stood in the middle of the mess in a raincoat to shield herself from the raw egg raining down from the ceiling fan beside her slumped over father whose face was flat against the table, his ‘hair’ laying limp with it and his arms dangling at his side in defeat- wait, are those robot arms?

“Um…” you started, staring at the new additions. When did he get _those_? Professor Membrane jumped out of the chair and to his feet in shock, nearly flipping the table due to the slipperiness of the floor. His reaction told you Gaz probably didn’t warn him you were coming over. You weren’t expecting to see him outside of his normal attire. Instead of his lab coat, he wore a pair of plush gray sleep pants with little bubbling beakers and vials on it, a blue tank top, and a singed apron that used to be white, all covered in raw egg. On his feet were, surprise-surprise, ‘bunny slippers’, only they were shaped to look like him. Despite this, your eyes were locked on his arms, refusing to move. It didn’t dawn on you that his face wasn’t covered until he bolted out of the room. Damn, there went a really good chance of seeing him unmasked but… robot arms…

“I’ll be right back!” he called back. 

“Oh good, you brought it!”

You felt the extinguisher being pulled out of your hands as you stared after him. The sound of it being swept on the inside of the oven snapped you out of it. 

“Did… he always have those?” you pointed after Professor Membrane and turned your attention to the girl.

“Oh, no. He got them after he tried petting a shark.”

“Petting a- why would he pet a shark?!…” 

“He thought they were his friends.” You watched Gaz’s expression for any sign of jesting. That was the thing about this girl, she was very hard to read. “Anyway, make french toast!” 

A spare apron was tossed to you and you caught it.

“With both hands though?!”

Gaz only gave shrug with an ‘I don’t know’ noise. Of course, she wouldn’t know what was going through her father’s head at that point. He was just as hard to read as her. With a sigh, you put the apron on and glanced about.

“Let’s clean this place up a bit and I’ll get started. First of all, we don’t need the oven…”

It took less than a half-hour to clean up the mess with Gaz diligently helping. With the way she moved, you could tell she really wanted that french toast. Professor Membrane hadn’t made his way back down to the kitchen yet.

“Hey, Gaz, how many pieces do you want?” you glanced back at the girl as she cleaned and set the table for five places.

“Ten.”

“You’re that hungry?!”

“Okay, five.”

“O…. kay, that’s better, I guess,” you snickered. “Man, I wish I had your metabolism.”

Out of the corner of your eye, the large red ‘man’ everyone knew as ‘Clembrane’ lumbered into the kitchen, stirring at a bowl and looking around for something sadly. You quickly turned your attention back to cooking, with a thousand-yard stare.

“Not the pudding monster,” you murmured under your breath, eye twitching while hoping he wouldn’t notice you. Part of you hoped if you stood really still, he wouldn’t see you and go away. Oh wait, that was T-Rexes. Damn.

“Has you guyses seen Dib?” he pouted heavily. “He sayes he was gowing to the potty but nevur came bawck.”

“He probably ran off to Zim’s,” Gaz shrugged as she sat at the table. 

“Oh! Dat’s okay den!” 

You felt yourself tense up some when you realized Clembrane had raced up behind you. Too late.

“OOooh! Who dis!? Kin I help? Need me to thwow some science puddin’ in dat?” he asked quickly before freaking out loudly, causing you to jump. You had to stop yourself from shielding the food.

“Never! I mean… Ah… Nooooo, thank you, I’ve got it,” you grinned nervously. If it weren’t for the random freak-outs, you probably wouldn’t be as jumpy around him. He didn’t seem to be violent or rude and you had witnessed him caring for the kids since he first appeared. He was just very loud and jarring. Gaz appeared between the two of you and pointed toward the door.

“I think I heard Dib’s voice outside.”

Clembrane gasped then rushed out of the room without further incident.

“Son!”

You sideglanced where Clembrane had gone then Gaz who looked up at you.

“Thank you.”

The girl nodded once then returned to the table. With Clembrane gone, you started to ease yourself back into cooking and relax. As you were finishing up the first couple of plates, you heard Membrane clear his throat as he entered the room. When you glanced back, he was back to wearing his lab coat you usually saw him in, cleaned up and ready for work at a moment’s notice. He ran a hand over his scythe to smooth it out as he moved to join his daughter at the table.

“Good morning, Y/N,” he muttered lowly. “Sorry about earlier.”

“Morning, Professor,” you smiled then waved a hand dismissively. “No problem. I was already awake when I was thrown off the bed and onto the floor. It seems to have become the norm these days.”

“No, I mean-,” he tried to say but Gaz butted in.

“Can I have mine now?”

You let out a chuckle while picking up two plates and heading to the table to place them in front of Gaz and the professor. You assumed he was talking about the mess you and Gaz had cleaned up.

“Yes, yes, I know you’ve been waiting all morning.” You then turned your attention to Membrane as you set his down. “Don’t worry about it, Professor. I don’t mind. Really. Now, go ahead and eat up. You’re always telling the kids that it’s the most important meal of the day.”

You returned to the range to fix the next couple of plates when a ruckus started at the front door and ended at the dining-room door. Clembrane entered gleefully with Dib’s head in his hand. Dib didn’t look too happy with his arms crossed and feet dangling limply. 

“Fownd him!” he announced triumphantly, waddled over to an empty chair, and dropped the boy into the seat. “He was owt pwaying in da garabage!”

“I was hiding in the garbage can, not playing in it,” Dib corrected in monotone. You glanced back at the boy with a slight grimace.

“You might need to go wash your hands. At least,” your attention then went to Clembrane. “You too!”

“Okay!” the clone exclaimed then proceeded to waddle out of the room, possibly to the bathroom when there was a sink nearby.

“Hey, at least you smell better now than when you were holing yourself up in your room for all that time waiting for Zim,” Gaz teased as she nearly annihilated her plate. Dib’s face reddened some.

“Don’t remind me,” he grumbled, pushed himself away from the table and went to the sink. 

You noticed that Membrane just sat there with his arms and legs crossed, silent. His gaze was on the table in front of him but he didn’t move or look up at anyone at the table. It was much different than his usual confident and dramatic demeanor. He must have been embarrassed by the whole ordeal. 

You tilted your head some slightly in thought to find a way to get him to open up and relax. Then it hit you. As quickly as you could, you gathered what you needed and returned to the table with a mug, a tea bag, the sugar bowl with matching milk container and an electric kettle with already hot water which you placed in front of him with a smile and a hand on his shoulder. He flinched slightly then snapped his attention to you in what you could only guess was surprise. It was hard as hell telling what his expressions actually were behind those goggles.

“Seriously, don’t worry about it. I won’t tell anyone if you won’t. Cheer up.”

Membrane’s arms and legs slowly uncrossed and he gave a nod. 

“… Thank you…”

When Dib took his seat once more, you were quick to serve his plate as well as coax Clembrane away from the rest of the food with a plate of his own when he came back in. You didn’t care if he put pudding on his, just as long as he didn’t do it to the rest of the food. You soon followed with your own plate and sat down with the Membrane family. It almost felt as if it were your own at this point. Thankfully, once Membrane put his tea together, he began to open up more and join the conversations that erupted between you. Clembrane, and the kids. 

————————————————————-

Despite your protests, you were told that since you cooked and took care of the mess the explosion left, Dib and Membrane would take care of cleaning up after it. Gaz was excluded due to the fact she had helped you earlier. With the whole ordeal out of the way, you began to think about what you needed to do the rest of the day and decided it was best to leave the Membrane household before Gaz roped you into one of her neverending video game battles. 

“I’ll stop by later so we can play,” you assured Gaz who had followed you to the door. “I’ve got to take care of a few errands first.”

“Fffffffine, I guess I can wait,” the girl pouted while crossing her arms. You gave a soft chuckle as you crossed the doorway onto the stoop. Gaz frowned, her fingers drumming against her arm. “Wait.”

You paused and turned back at the girl.

“Yeah?” 

“… What do you think of Dad’s arms?”

“What do you mean?”

“Earlier when you saw them, what did you think of them?”

It took a moment to process the question and you gave a shrug.

“Cool, I guess. I didn’t really see much of them, though. Why?”

“You don’t think he’s a freak for having them?” Gaz opened one eye to look at you.

“Not really. It kinda fits him.”

“Good. He doesn’t normally show them to anyone.”

“Why do you want my opinion on this?”

The girl gripped her arms tighter and looked like she was struggling not to say something.

“Look, if I tell you something, you gotta swear not to tell Dad. Okay?” she finally blurted out.

You leaned around the door for any sign of anyone and looked around behind you before leaning down to her level when the coast was clear.

“Sure. What’s up?”

“… I kinda did all of this on purpose.”

“I figured,” you snickered. “You really wanted french toast.”

“Not that. I purposely didn’t tell Dad you were coming over so you could see him at his worst, or close to it.” 

You frowned some at the confession and the girl went on.

“I’m… also the reason Foodio is still out of order.”

“You broke Foodio?”

“The first time wasn’t me. That happened on its own. It was what resulted from that situation that made me sabotage Foodio again…”

“You like my cooking that much?”

“It’s good, yeah but that’s not it either.”

“Okay, so what made you repeatedly sabotage Foodio?”

“Dad’s happier when you’re around.”

This answer hit you like a truck. You felt your face heat up some.

“Gaz…”

“It’s weird and creepy and kinda gross, I know, but I want Dad to be happy.”

“I don’t think wanting your father to be happy is any of that, but…” you started, hoping ‘weird, creepy, and kinda gross’ wasn’t directed at you. The words escaped you as you tried to finish your sentence. You really never thought about Professor Membrane that way.

“I think he kinda admires you too. When you called the other day about some of the construction work being done, instead of taking it on his headset, he stopped working and used the actual phone. That thing’s been collecting dust for ages,” Gaz glanced behind her. Looking behind her, you saw a Membrane-esque phone with at least an inch of dust compiled around a large handprint. “He actually took the time to talk to you. He almost never does that with anyone outside of work.”

“Have you… tried to talk to him about this?”

“Pfft, Dad will always change the subject and won’t give us a definitive answer.”

“Us?”

“Oh yeah, Dib knows. He’s not entirely stupid. He notices when Dad acts differently. I would say Clembrane knows too but I wouldn’t push it that far,” Gaz looked away. You fell silent, trying to process the conversation. She opened an eye to look at you once more. “What do you think of Dad? Do you like him too?”

You stood immediately, staring down at the girl while feeling a bit flustered at the question.

“Well, I mean…” you rubbed the back of your head. “I don’t dislike the man but I never really… ah…”

“If he asked you on a date right now, what would you say?” 

Your whole body jerked involuntarily when Gaz opened both eyes fully to stare up at you. It was like she was looking deep into your soul. It was somewhat unsettling.

“I-I don’t know, really. This is all hypothetical, right?”

“Sure, whatever.”

You stood there a moment in thought. Surely going on a date with Membrane wouldn’t be bad. It would give you the chance to get to know him better and there was nothing saying that you had to have a second date if things didn’t go well. He’d agree to still be friends, right?

“I… guess I’d say yes?”

“Okay. I’ll see you later then.” Almost robotically, Gaz turned, went back into the house and closed the door behind her.

“Okay? What is that supposed to mean? Gaz!”

“Don’t worry about it! I’ll see you later!” she called through the door. You had a sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach. 


	2. Confession

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gaz is truly a mastermind when it comes to her father's happiness.
> 
> [Artwork by Siro-cyll](http://siro-cyll.tumblr.com)

You were half expecting to be jumped when you reentered the Membrane household but found it to be quiet, save for the sounds of Gaz playing a fighting game on the couch. No one else was in sight.

“I’m back,” you announced as you set a bag of snacks down on the table. Gaz only responded with a grunt and by handing you the player two-controller. She quickly ended the fight she was on and brought up the main menu as you sat down. You glanced around, to see if you two were truly alone. You weren’t exactly sure what Gaz meant by ‘okay’ earlier and thought she was going to set something up with you and Membrane.

“Dad’s at work,” she glanced at you with one eye opened, causing you to flinch.

“I wasn’t-”

“Dib’s messing with Zim and Clembrane tried following Dad to Membrane Labs,” she continued, snapping her attention back to the screen. “There’s no one else here.”

“I… see,” you murmured and proceeded to choose a fighter. 

About an hour in, the snacks you had brought in were scattered across the table and you and Gaz were now locked in a battle of life and death. You were on fire, winning round after round which was rare when you played against Gaz. You had forgotten all about the whole thing about Gaz’s cryptic ‘okay’. That is until…

“Dad has a photo of you and him from the last Membrane convention as his background when you unlock his phone!” Gaz blurted out just as you were about to land the finishing blow before her fighter could recover. You nearly dropped the controller out of shock but regained composure and tried to focus on the fight. 

“Ha! I’m not falling for that!” you said through clenched teeth but you could feel your face heating up. No, she was bluffing. Gaz had been getting worked up over losing back to back. She would have said anything to throw you off. 

“Oh yeah?!”

Out of the corner of your eye, Gaz produced what looked like Membrane’s phone. It had to have been. A picture of Gaz and Dib making faces at the camera made up the lock screen. You could almost hear Membrane turning his office upside down looking for it across town. 

She typed something in quickly then turned it to you while controlling her fighter with her other hand. Sure enough, the home background screen consisted of you leaning against a table with Membrane standing next to you, smiling at the camera. Gaz and Dib were nowhere to be seen. You two had been chatting casually before the picture had been taken, about how you would rather make the kids’ lunches for them than have them eat nasty school food. You were wearing a Membrane Labs shirt that he had given you for the event.

“Fatality!” the game announced and you felt like you had just been hit in the chest by an unseen force. Gaz’s fighter had finished yours off easily while you were distracted. Shakenly, you reached out to take the phone, eyes glued to the screen but jumped with it began to ring. Gaz glanced up at the clock nearby then smirked.

“Right on time,” she cackled then turned her attention to you. “I think it’s for you.”

“You didn’t even look at it!”

“I don’t have to.”

With a deep inhale, you reached for the phone again. The contact name was “Work” and you knew exactly who was on the other end. Gaz turned back to the game and started a single-player fight as you hit the answer button and brought the phone to your ear.

“Hello?” you muttered meekly after clearing your throat the best you could. Silence answered you as if Professor Membrane realized you were definitely not his daughter. “Professor?”

Choking noises came from the other end followed by an exhale and a marathon of ‘I can’t do this’ being murmured breathlessly in the background. Your eyes searched the snack covered table for anything to say.

“H-Hey, ah…” you started while rubbing the back of your neck. You could see Gaz turn her head to you with a grin which made your face grow hotter and you positioned yourself to where you couldn’t see her. “H-How about we talk about… this… over some coffee after the kids go to school tomorrow morning? I mean… with Foodio is still broken and all… I don’t mind making breakfast for them until he’s fixed…”

“Ah-ah… Yes, t-that would be nice… Is… Is my daughter there?”

“Yeah, she’s right here,”

“Tell her she’s grounded,” he cleared his throat and used his normal tone. 

“Okay,” you nodded as if he could see you and you turned your head to the girl. “Your dad says you’re grounded.”

“Wait, what? No fair!” Gaz shrieked.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Y/N. Goodnight.”

“‘Night, Professor,” you murmured softly back, your head swimming from everything that happened. You listened to him hang up first before looking down at the phone. The picture of you and him stared back at you before it faded and the lock with Dib and Gaz clicked in place on the screen. “Gaz, how did you know he was going to call?”

Gaz gave a huff but didn’t put down her controller.

“Dad’s like clockwork. He always calls at this time to check up on me and Dib if he’s working in the evenings. I usually find his phone if he leaves it here.”

“… Did he leave his phone this time?” You squint your eyes at her. If you didn’t have the conversation before, you would have believed that it was just an accident. A devilish smirk spreading across Gaz’s face confirmed that suspicion.

“Nope.”

“How did you get it?”

“I have my ways. Let’s get into another game before Dad gets home. He tends to hide the controllers when I’m grounded.”

It then dawned on you why you kept winning. Gaz wasn’t watching the game, she was watching the cell phone. She was making sure Membrane didn’t realize he didn’t have his phone on him before his usual call home. _This little mastermind…_

“Wait, don’t you have that floating device where he can talk to you guys while at work?”

“He doesn’t use it as often since he can be home more,” Gaz shrugged. “It eats up a lot of energy and rocket fuel. It’s probably not even charged.”

“Oh.”

“Are you going to play or not?”

You slowly pick up your controller with a nod. Might as well. This shouldn’t change anything. Nothing has been confirmed. There could be a perfectly good explanation as to why he has that picture on his background. Like… Well, you couldn’t think of anything right then and there, but there could be something. 

—————————

You’d like to say you had gotten a good night’s sleep. You’d like to say that finding out if Professor Membrane actually had a crush on you didn’t affect you in the least bit. As much as you were trying to convince yourself that this was nothing, you knew this could be a life-changing situation if true. Gaz really had no reason to lie to you, but you couldn’t rule out that she saw something that only fueled wishful thinking.

Most of the night, you sat awake trying to rehearse what you were going to say in your head in either situation but, once you finished the thought, it was as if someone had hit the delete button and you were back to square one. This made you feel more flustered and panicked since you were still trying to keep hold of the opinion that there was an explanation other than Professor Membrane having a crush on you. However, the more you thought about the possibility of a relationship with the man, the more you found yourself wanting it to be true. 

Professor Membrane had an attractive personality. He had to have one to be as popular as he was and you knew first hand that it wasn’t an act. He loved his kids to no end, he was pretty much the go-to guy for almost anything, he was smart, respectable, goofy, a bit of a dramatic nerd, and an all-around good guy, minus the need to have his face plastered everywhere, even in his own home. While you would remind yourself that you didn’t really know what the man looked like past a few glances your brain refused to acknowledge as proper views, that didn’t seem to matter. You would have accepted him no matter what was under that collar at any other time. Why would this be any different?

With what little sleep you had gotten, if any, you still got up earlier than normal and headed over to the Membrane household. You still wanted to make the kids their lunches and Dib had asked for a bacon, egg, and sausage breakfast when he came in the night before since it was technically his turn. 

You found the front door ajar as if waiting for your arrival and you quietly entered to find the living room empty once more. Soft sounds of movement in the kitchen caught your attention and you felt a slight panic fill your chest. You could imagine it was Membrane and that wasn’t good. You weren’t ready. You hadn’t psyched yourself out for the conversation yet. With a deep inhale, you shut your eyes tightly and stepped into the view of the kitchen.

“Hey!” Clembrane’s voice bellowed. You opened your eyes and grimaced at the sight of the once cleaned kitchen now covered in pudding. “What youses dowin’ here Y/N?”

No surprise that he butchered the hell out of your name. The freak out he had in the middle of it added syllables that wouldn’t normally be there. You gave the best smile you could and set your stuff down on the surface with the least amount of pudding.

“Oh, ah, the kids wanted me to come over and make them breakfast and their lunches.”

“Nonsense! I kin make it!”

“That’s kind of you, but Dib really wants something only I can make. It’s special,” you lied. Anyone could make what he wanted. Then again, there was a man and whatever Clembrane was in this household that couldn’t follow a recipe to save their lives.

“Oooooh, I see! Kin I hewlp?” he rushed up to you, leaning into you to the point that he was inches from your face and was making your spine bend backward some. “Youse can use puddin’ rwight?”

“Um… no… but…” you put a hand to your chin to think, not of a way he could help, but a way to get him out of the kitchen. You then snapped your fingers. “Yes, actually, you can. We ran out of orange juice yesterday. Could you run out to the store and pick some up?”

The red-faced clone leered at you some before standing straight.

“Okay! I will gow to da stooore and pick some up!” he announced then made his way out. You followed close behind.

“Remember, Dib likes extra pulp while Gaz likes no pulp,” you reminded him and he nodded each time. “Don’t get ‘from concentrate’. That stuff is LIES.”

“Gaht it! Be rwight bawck!” the clone saluted, ripped open the front door, then rushed out over the lawn and down the street on foot. You caught the door so it didn’t slam into the wall behind it and scoffed softly to yourself.

“That was easier than I thought…” You shut the door and turned to head back into the kitchen when you realized there was a tall, Professor Membrane-shaped object blocking your way. Wait. That was Membrane. You jumped nearly three feet in surprise. “AH! Professor!”

The man jumped as well, snapping out of what seemed like a trance and put his hands up. 

“Sorry! Sorry, I didn’t mean to sneak up on you like that! I just heard you and Clembrane talking and I…” he paused then cleared his throat and his voice softened. “I didn’t mean to frighten you.”

“It-It’s fine,” you found yourself smiling. Actually, you couldn’t stop yourself from smiling at the sight of him. The sides of your mouth were beginning to hurt. “I-I was just about to make the kids’ lunches.”

“O-Oh, y-yes! Of course! I-I’ll stay out of your way then,” he chuckled nervously, a gloved hand reaching back to rub the back of his head. Oh no. That was cute. 

You moved to step around Membrane only for him to step in your way and you two performed the most cliche thing you’ve seen in many romcoms. After a few awkward tries of trying to shuffle around and blocking each other assuming the other would step opposite of you, you finally were able to circle the professor.

“I, ah… better go clean up the kitchen and get the food ready before he comes back,” you thumbed back to the kitchen. Your face had to be a notable red. The heat you felt radiating off of it had to be enough to fry one of the eggs you had aimed to make that morning. 

“Yes, I-I better go and… ah… find the lawnmower…” he said slowly while thumbing over his shoulder as if that was all that came to mind at that moment. You waved him off then headed back to the kitchen only to hear a loud, hard ‘THWACK’ on the front door. Turning back, you saw Membrane bent over, holding his face while facing the door.

“Are you okay?”

His head snapped in your direction and he quickly fixed himself to where he was leaning against the wall with one hand and the other was balled up on his hip. You could see a bit of red seeping through his collar. 

“Perfectly fine! The lawnmower awaits!” he pushed himself up and quickly slipped out the front door. You caught yourself staring at the door, trying to process what just happened before burying your face into the collar of your shirt. Oh no. Unbeknownst to you, Membrane was doing the exact same thing on the opposite side of the door.

——————————————

It was harder to stay focused while thinking about what you just witnessed but somehow manage not to burn a single piece. The lunches only took you minutes to put together and you had only cleaned the parts of the kitchen you knew you were going to use to avoid wasting time. Clembrane could be back at any moment, though you did not envy the cashier who had to deal with him at the store. If you were lucky, he was harassing the cashier or a stock person with a never-ending conversation they could not get out of, probably showing off pictures of Dib and Gaz that he stole from Membrane’s wallet if he didn’t steal the wallet itself. Poor bastards.

Looking over the plates of food you just made, buffet style, you felt something was missing. Of course, there was the orange juice, but you could wait for that.

“If you like,” a soft voice called out from the doorway as Professor Membrane entered. “I… could make some toast to go with it?”

“I thought you were going to get the lawnmower?” you blinked, feeling yourself start to fluster again. The red on his collar from earlier was gone, signifying that he probably had cleaned up before coming to see you again.

“Uh, yeah… I can’t reach it. It’ll take about a week to go through all of Dib’s… collection and I would rather him out there with me to do it,” he muttered, glancing out the window to look at a now bludging garage. No garage should ever be that full.

“Oh, then, if you don’t mind…”

He nodded then quickly gathered what he needed, things that wouldn’t normally be used in making normal toast. Before you could ask, he explained that he had used the toaster for another experiment that backfired and destroyed the appliance. He had regained his confident demeanor which helped you calm down. It felt more familiar. He then rambled on about other experiments he was doing when it came to cooking and you finally realized that the explosion from yesterday was one of them being put to the test instead of in a controlled environment. You sideglanced the oven, which seemed to have suffered the same fate as the toaster. That explained that. He assured you that the oven would be replaced soon.

“You really don’t like following a recipe, do you?” you chuckled before your ears perked at the sound of voices coming down the stairs. The kids were finally awake.

“I don’t care, Dib,” you heard Gaz groan as Dib’s voice rambled on into earshot about the paranormal. “It’s too early for this!”

When Gaz rounded the corner, both eyes popped open at the sight of both you and Membrane in the kitchen. Dib’s face lit up as well as he rushed forward to take his seat.

“Morning, Dad! Morning, Y/N! It smells great in here!” he grinned. Gaz took her seat seconds later, still looking doe-eyed. 

“Good morning my beautiful children whom I love unconditionally!” Membrane turned and threw his arms out dramatically in a voice he normally used for assemblies. “Prepare for your tummies to be sated by Y/N’s wonderous cooking!”

If you blinked, you would have missed it. Membrane had moved like lightning, setting the table and putting the food down where the kids could choose what they wanted. Moments later, with seemingly perfect timing, the front door flew open and Clembrane bounded in.

“I’M BAWCK!” he bellowed and skidded to a halt in the middle of the kitchen. Not only did he have the orange juice, he had one of the stockboys from the nearby grocery store under his arm holding said juice and looking deeply traumatized. “AND I MADE A FWIEND! I BET HE WIKES PUDDIN’ TOO!”

“Oh no,” Dib gasped while Gaz facepalmed with both hands and grumbled.

“Oh my,” Membrane muttered as your mouth dropped open. The two of you shared a glance of concern. You already had the horrific image of Clembrane force feeding that terrible substance to his ‘fwiend’. That’s the last time you send the clone out for anything.

“Professor-” you started but he put a hand up.

“I’ll handle it,” he nodded and moved to try to coax Clembrane to let the poor guy go. Clembrane had to wrench the bottles away from the terrified stock boy and gently placed them on the table, one in front of each child. Membrane coaxed Clembrane to follow him into the next room and you decided to start making coffee once you saw the time. The kids had an hour before the bus came and you still weren’t ready for the conversation to follow, despite having a good idea of how it might go now.

Membrane, by some miracle, had convinced Clembrane to release the stock boy and compensated him for his time before the guy went running, screaming from the house. He didn’t seem too interested in sticking around for breakfast. Clembrane had sulked off somewhere to pout about losing his hostage-friend and drown his sorrows in pudding, leaving you to tend to the kids. 

“Let’s see, Ghost baloney for Dib and Piggy ham for Gaz,” you muttered to yourself as you glanced down into the lunch bags you made to distinguish which cut of sandwich went to which kid then handed them out to the kids once they were ready to head out for the bus. 

“Aren’t we a little old to have our sandwiches cut into shapes?” Dib asked as he looked into the bag.

“No. Shut up and take your ghost baloney,” Gaz scoffed, took her bag, then started for the front door.

“I don’t think anyone is too old for sandwiches cut into ghosts but if it bothers you, I could make you a regular sandwich if you like,” you held your hand out for the bag but Dib flinched and hugged it to him.

“You don’t have to,” he avoided eye contact while muttering under his breath. A soft tinge appeared on his face while he was trying to suppress a smile. “I’ll eat the ghost baloney.”

You weren’t sure if it was because you offered to change it for him or if he liked the answer of ‘no one being too old for it’, but it made you chuckle.

“All right. You better get going. You don’t want to miss the bus.”

Dib nodded then followed his sister out with you behind him. Membrane stood at the door waiting with their backpacks to see them off as well.

“Have a good day at school!” he announced as he held out each backpack for the two to slip their arms into it. “I will see you when you return!”

“Both of you, right?” Gaz turned, glancing between you and her father. 

“Of course, why wouldn’t we-?” you started then paused when she smirked up at you and your face flushed once more. You narrowed your eyes at the girl as you felt a large hand rest on your shoulder opposite of where Membrane was standing and your entire body went rigid. You could feel his arm drape against your back.

“We will both be here when you come home,” Membrane nodded. You fought the urge to hide your face in your shirt again as you and Membrane waved the kids off. As you watched them board the bus to leave, the scientist cleared his throat. “The coffee must be finished brewing by now.”

Back in the kitchen, Membrane insisted on making a cup for you. You hesitated a moment, wondering if that was such a good idea but relented and took a seat at the table. Your mind began to wander while waiting. What were you going to say? What was the best way to break the ice for something like this? The fluttering in your stomach came back. This had to be something. What you witnessed earlier that morning wasn’t just a trick of your mind. Membrane became nervous around you to the point of that awkward shuffle dance and slamming his face into the front door. 

The soft noise of a mug being set down in front of you and Membrane citing your usual amounts of what went in it pulled you out of your thoughts.

“Is that right?” he asked before sitting down.

“Yes…That’s right,” you murmured slowly and pulled the mug to you. He knew how you took your coffee. He had been paying attention. “Thank you.”

“Hm.”

Then it happened. An awkward, painful silence fell that began to eat at your very being. The only noises that were present was the two of you sipping at your drinks and Clembrane in the distance somewhere blubbering and babbling incoherently while sucking on a pudding spoon. You stared down at the liquid, trying to keep yourself calm. Your mind went blank. Why was it so hard to talk to him now? You had no problems speaking to him when you two were alone before! A cold sweat broke over you. Membrane let out a sigh as he set his cup down. He composed himself, leaning his arms on the table and brought his hands together.

“Y/N, would you consider accompanying me to dinner, say tomorrow night?”

You tensed up in shock at how blunt he was with it. He didn’t sound as nervous as he was before and his voice was soft and calm. You didn’t realize that an unconscious ‘yes’ had dropped out of your mouth until it was too late and you covered your mouth immediately.

“I mean,” you tried to backpedal the best you could but it wasn’t as if you wanted to say ‘no’. Your face felt like it was burning. Membrane didn’t react but continued by suggesting your favorite sit-down restaurant. All you could do was nod.

“Splendid. How does tomorrow at eight sound?”

Another nod followed. The way he spoke made it feel like he was treating this like a work situation and it was oddly calming, just as it was when he regained his confident demeanor while making toast. You had to wonder if this was Gaz’s doing considering how nervous he had gotten when you ran into him at the front door. Then again… Your attention turned to the mug in front of the man. Was it the drink? He did the same thing the morning before after he made his tea. Was that his go-to solution to calm his nerves?

“You’re awfully quiet.” Membrane raised a brow. “Is something wrong?”

Your mouth opened and closed a couple of times before you gained the ability to speak.

“So, this is… a date, right?”

Membrane flinched hard and his confident demeanor faded. The parts of his face you could see suddenly turned scarlet red and he started to fidget in his seat.

“A-Ah, well, y-yes, or at least, that’s what I was hoping…” he stuttered. “U-Unless you don’t want it to be a d-date, I-I would, um, understand-”

“No, no,” you put both hands up to try to reassure him with the best smile you could give at that point. “That’s not… With the way you said it, I didn’t know if that’s how you intended it. It sounded a bit too formal, as if it was a business dinner…”

The scientist let out a sigh of relief while rubbing his head.

“I-I was just trying to avoid all of the awkwardness and nervousness by treating it as such,” he answered weakly. He leaned forward to hang his head with both hands linked on the back of his neck. “I… didn’t know how else to go about this…”

“Would you have said anything if Gaz didn’t force any of this?” you asked softly as you watched Membrane sit up straight and set both hands on the table. He was quiet for a moment.

“I don’t know… My main concern was that I didn’t know how you’d react to…” he tapped one of his forearms which made a metallic noise, reminding you of the robotic arms. “I believe that is why Gaz invited you over yesterday without my knowledge.”

“I see,” you murmured, watching him rub the forearm gingerly.

“… Do they bother you?” 

You shook your head and gave him a soft smile. 

“Far from it, actually. I told Gaz they suit you. If anything, they’re an extension of your brilliant work,” you reached over and carefully took one of his hands, turning them over in your own. Despite being gloved, you could feel the groves and edges of each piece. You raised a brow in his direction. “Though she told me how you got them. Petting sharks? With both hands? Really?”

A nervous chuckle escaped his collar.

“Wasn’t one of my best moments.” 

The hand carefully moved to clasp yours. His grip was firm but you knew if you pulled away, he would have released you without incident. You knew how gentle he was so there was no need for you to flinch or pull away. All you could do was smile as his thumb started to gently caress the back of your hand and, without pulling away fully, turned your hand to where you could link your fingers with his gloved mechanical ones.

“I wish you had said something sooner, though,” you admitted. “I didn’t even know you felt this way. How long has this been going on?”

Membrane’s shoulders twitched upwards and his free hand rubbed the back of his head again.

“Long enough…” he muttered softly.

“Okay, then how long has Gaz known?”

“About a month now. When she found out, she urged me to talk to you more but essentially left it to me to tell you. I guess when I failed to do so, she decided to take things into her own hands.”

“Well, I’m glad she did. I found it endearing to know she did it because she wanted you to be happy. Those kids care about you as much as you care about them.”

Membrane gave a nod as he watched you.

“They seem to care about you too. You’re so natural with them as if they were your own.”

“Yeah, well, sometimes they feel like they are,” you chuckled warmly. “I’ve always felt some sort of attachment to those kids, so I guess that’s why I treat them that way.” You paused then furrowed your brow at the man. “Speaking of which, if we’re going to be dating, I don’t want you to prioritize me over them. The kids always come first.”

“Of course! I wouldn’t dream about putting anyone over my own kids,” he agreed.

“Good. The last thing I would want is for them to feel like they are being ignored.”

Membrane nodded again and silence fell once more. It was nowhere near as awkward now that the tension in the air had disappeared. 

“So, what do you want to do now?” Membrane asked in a low voice.

————————————————-

The front door opened and Gaz entered the living room first to see you and Membrane curled up on the couch asleep. Membrane was sitting up straight, his head bowed forward into his collar with you against him with his arm wrapped around your waist firmly to keep you close. You had your legs curled under you with a plush blanket that had been draped over the two of you. On Membrane’s lap, your hand was entwined with his free one. The TV across from you was displaying a streaming service’s logo waiting for you to choose the next movie. You and Membrane had opted to just stay in and watch movies until the kids came home but neither of you seemed to make it without falling asleep.

“We’re home!” Dib called out only to have his mouth slapped shut by his sister who then put a finger to her lips.

“Shut your screamer, Dib!” she hissed then pointed to the couch where the two of you were. His face lit up some as Gaz moved forward to turn the TV off.

“I’m going to my room to play video games. I know where Dad hid my Game Slave,” she turned to Dib with a whisper. “DON’T wake them up.”

“I’ll, ah… just go see what Zim’s doing,” Dib whispered back as he thumbed over his shoulder, his eyes on your coupled hands. Both kids made one last passing glance before heading off in different directions, leaving you and Membrane alone until you woke up naturally.


	3. Quarantined

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Don’t read with a weak stomach. Think of having the flu and everything that goes with it. If you can’t handle that, this chapter isn’t for you.
> 
> Gaz and Dib are just getting over the flu when disaster strikes. You were told to stay away by the professor but when he comes down with it, you feel the need to step in regardless.
> 
> [Artwork by Siro-cyll](http://siro-cyll.tumblr.com)

_It had been a couple of months since you and Membrane had started dating and things were going pretty well for the two of you. You hadn’t taken the ‘next step’ with the man yet considering he was old school about dating and you respected that. Slow and steady. Both of you were pretty clear on what you wanted out of the relationship and it seems you were on the same page. You did like having your own place, but it was getting serious enough that you were contemplating moving in with the small family if asked._

_You also suspected that he was still a bit self-conscious about his appearance behind the collar considering he avoided the topic left and right. You weren’t sure what it was that made him act like that, but his personality alone would overshadow his looks for you, whatever they may be. With this situation, though, he may have no choice but to let you see what was under the cowl._

* * *

“Y/N. Wake up,” a familiar voice called out which caused you to crack your eyes open. “Y/N.”

When you finally realized who it was, you immediately pushed yourself up and glanced behind you to see Gaz standing there in her gamer pajamas with severe bedhead at the side of your bed. She looked like she had just woken up.

“Gaz? What time is it?” you muttered sleepily, stretching some as you glanced at the alarm beside your bed. It was a little after 3 a.m.

“I tried calling you. I think your phone died,” the eleven-year-old sighed while rubbing her eye. This caused you to frown and reach for your phone. Sure enough, it was dead.

“Damn it. I must have forgotten to put it on the charger,” you growled, reaching over to do so.

“Dad’s sick.”

You paused to look at the girl.

“What?” 

“I woke up to him vomiting violently into the hall bathroom,” she explained. You pushed yourself off the bed in order to grab some clothes as quickly as you could without startling the girl.

“Does he have a fever?”

“I don’t know. I tried getting ahold of you first. Dib’s up with him right now.”

Once you were dressed, you picked up the sleepy girl and headed over to the Membrane residence. Your frazzled, yet still sleepy mind tumbled over what he could have caught before a small yawn coming from Gaz reminded you of something. 

Gaz had the flu recently, a strain that bypassed anything the shot could prevent. Membrane had put the whole house on lockdown quarantine, curtain and all, for a week when it was detected as Dib had shown early signs of the flu as well. From what you remembered, they had gotten so sick, they could barely move out of bed. The first call you got when all of it went down was from the frantic father, warning you to stay away. He told you that it was so bad that Gaz refused to touch her video games and Dib wanted nothing to do with his paranormal files. All they did was sleep and cry from not feeling well. It must’ve scared Membrane so badly that he neglected his own health and had forgone sleep.

Since you were barred from the house until the illness was eradicated, you had taken on the role of errand runner for Membrane, picking up the kids’ homework, shopping, etc, just to make it easier on the single father. You two communicated through video chats whenever he needed anything or just to tell you he missed you badly. As much as you wanted to just go over and see him, you abided by his wishes. After all, he did go to the trouble to make sure Foodio was in tip-top condition and functioning properly so he didn’t put you at risk of catching the flu. He wouldn’t even allow anyone from Membrane Labs to enter the house, under suspicion that this was no ordinary strain and that it needed to stay contained. You could already hear Dib spouting a theory that it was given to him by the one green kid he plays with that lived a few streets over. 

“How are you feeling, by the way?” you asked softly. You felt Gaz shrug.

“Fine, I guess. I don’t feel as bad as I did last week.”

“Good. Do you still have the quarantine supplies?”

“Yeah. By the door,” the girl pointed as the two of you walked up to the Membrane house and you set her down on the stoop to retrieve the items within the quarantine curtain that was still draped over the entire house. You could hear loud retching upstairs from just outside the front door and it made you cringe. This sounded bad. No wonder the kids woke up. Once Gaz returned with the supplies, you geared up with a white adult-sized hazmat suit, because Membrane was that extra when it came to this sort of thing, and paused long enough to grab a face mask to head up the hall bathroom. Since Membrane was still shy about letting you see the lower half of his face, the face mask would give him some comfort if he had to abandon his coat. 

Upon entering the hall bathroom, you found a worried Dib in his flying saucer pajamas rubbing the back of a large man whose head was resting on his arms that were clutching the toilet under him. The rest of his body was slumped on the floor, violently tensing with each retch. By this time, it seemed to be nothing but dry heaves. 

“You need… to be wearing…” He growled under his breath, sounding much weaker than you’ve ever heard him.

“But Dad-” Dib tried to protest.

“No buts… Now. Go dress. You’ll get sick again…”

“The odds of catching the same strain is extremely rare-”

“I don’t care…”

Dib gave a sigh but perked up once he saw you and he patted his father’s back.

“Dad, Y/N’s here,” he said softly.

“Y/N?” Membrane’s voice groaned, amplified by the toilet bowl. Dib stepped around his father and out of the bathroom in order to let you in. Membrane’s coat was opened, showing a pair of dark blue boxers and a black t-shirt underneath. It wouldn’t have been so odd if he didn’t keep his boots on with it. He must’ve been working late in the lab when this hit him. His scythe was limp, lying to the side and on the floor. Moving to the man’s side, you watched as he grabbed his collar and pulled it over the lower half of his face. 

“Professor?” you called out softly, placing your hand where Dib’s once were. 

“No, leave…” he turned an arm and pointed aggressively toward the door. “I don’t want you-”

“I’m wearing the gear, don’t worry,” you assured him and continued to rub his back. “Besides, you need someone to take care of you while your body fights this.”

Membrane let out a low groan in response.

“Take it easy. Here, I brought you a face mask. We’re probably going to need to sanitize your clothes,” you murmured, reaching over to run a hand over his head. “Let’s get you up off the floor and into your room to change. Okay?”

Membrane nodded as he took the face mask, turned his head away and placed it over the lower half of his face.

Once he had it settled, he started to push off his coat over each shoulder while holding onto the toilet bowl. You continued to coo softly to him as you helped him take off his gloves to reveal his robotic arms, coaxing him along to keep him calm. The last thing you wanted was him to get overworked and making his sickness worse. 

It took a little bit to get him to his feet. He nearly hit his head twice failing to push himself up due to weakness but when you finally had him up, you guided him back into his room, leaving the coat on the floor. You could feel that he had been sweating profusely when you wrapped an arm around his torso to keep him steady. He must’ve been running a high fever. You could feel his grip on you waning and his legs started to give out under him just as you entered his bedroom. If he had collapsed right there, it would be another long struggle to get him back up off the floor. Getting him up from a lying position took a lot out of you the first time. 

Without a second thought, using his weight and momentum of the pace you two were going, you threw him forward onto his bed. It was better than the floor, at least. Membrane landed face-first onto the soft surface with a grunt.

“Sorry,” you gasped, moving to his side once more. “Are you okay?”

A weak ‘thumbs up’ made you exhale in relief.

“Good. Let’s get you on your back so you can breathe, at least. We’re trying to keep you from dying, not cause it.”

“You really think he’s going to die?!” Dib’s panicked voice rang out behind you, causing you to spin around to see the two watching you with worry from the doorway. You put your hands up and shook your head profusely.

“No, no! It was a joke!” you chuckled nervously. “Just trying to lighten the situation. I don’t believe he’s going to die. Your father is stronger than that.”

“I’m not going to die…” Membrane growled, his voice huskier than usual as he pushed himself up the best he could and glanced back at the children. “I’ll be back… on my feet in no time…”

“See?” you smiled. “Your father’s too stubborn to die.”

“The Grim Reaper is going… to have to try his damnedest… to take me…” the man carefully moved to lay on the bed properly, dropping himself against the pillows with a groan. “He’ll need a reaper for himself… I’m not going anywhere.”

You motioned to him with your attention on the kids.

“You two were able to fight this. It’s just his turn now. How about you go get some sleep and we’ll see how he feels in the morning?”

The kids exchanged glances before nodding.

After putting the kids to bed, you returned to Membrane’s room to find him nearly drifting off. Membrane laid shirtless on his bed, his bare chest rising and falling softly while his head lulled back and forth. He must’ve pulled the shirt off when you had left to try to cool himself off. You found it hard to feel flustered at the sight knowing he wasn’t feeling well. If anything, it made you feel more protective over him, wishing there was something more you could do to help him recover. 

When you approached him, you noticed he was pouring sweat. You reached up to his forehead but paused when you remembered the gloves. You made a mental note of washing your hands after and pulled one glove off to feel his forehead. It burned intensely, almost to the point that you nearly ripped your hand away out of surprise. 

“Hands are cold…” Membrane groaned, eyes closed tightly. He felt so hot that even if you were a human furnace with warm hands, you’d still feel cold to him.

“I know,” you murmured softly. “When did you start feeling this way?”

“… I don’t remember… I came up here to check on the kids… and felt dizzy.”

“How much sleep have you gotten?”

You could see his eyes open through the goggles and give you a side glance. His silence spoke volumes.

“You haven’t slept since the kids got sick, have you?” you narrowed your eyes at him.

“No.”

“Professor!”

“They still could be sick. I needed to watch over them…” he whined weakly. “And you might be infected now too…”

“If I am, then so be it. There really isn’t much else we can do if I am,” you chided. “Right now, you are first priority. The kids are getting better so you just have to worry about yourself. I’ll take care of them- and you, from here.”

Membrane tried to argue but ended up just falling quiet. Your face softened with a soft smile as you set a hand on his chest to lean up and caress the side of his face with your bare hand, careful not to disturb the face mask.

“You did your part as a good father, Professor. You can rest now.”

Slowly and carefully, Membrane took your hand on his chest and linked his robotic fingers weakly with yours. His other hand pressed against the back of your bare hand as he turned his feverish head in to nuzzle your palm.

“What would I do without you?” he purred weakly.

“Probably continue to dry heave in the toilet.”

It took Membrane a while to slip into a peaceful sleep after taking some nighttime cold medication you found in the bathroom, leaving you to handle setting up his room for anything he needed when he woke up. You situated a bucket nearby in case the urge to vomit arose, gathered all of the clothes he had strewn across the room to be washed and sterilized, and tried to hunt down the medication and tools he used for the kids only to find that there were very little. Maybe he disposed of them thinking the kids were better? No matter. You could always have some delivered if you got ahold of his assistant, Simmons.

As you passed the bed to drape a blanket over him, you realized his boots were still on. With an eye roll and a soft chuckle, you went to remove them only to see that there was no way to remove them.

“What the…?” you muttered to yourself, lifting one of his legs up to see if there was a zipper on the underside but found nothing. “How do these…?”

“They don’t come off,” Membrane murmured suddenly. When you glance up, you see him watching you sleepily.

“They… don’t come off?”

“No.”

“O-Oh…” you slowly placed his leg back on the bed. You furrowed your brow at the boots for a long moment as it made you realize there was still a lot about this man you did not know. “How did this happen-?”

When you looked at him again, you found him passed out. The tugging must’ve woke him up long enough to tell you about it and the medication knocked him right back out. As you went to cover him, he muttered one last thing that caught you off guard. 

“The rocket fuel has already been removed.”

“Rocket fuel?!” your mouth dropped open. Your head snapped toward the boots, now wondering what they could possibly need rocket fuel for. Membrane fell silent with his head turned away from you on the pillow, indicating that he had fallen asleep. You shook your head and continued to cover him. You’ll talk to him about it later, but then you shouldn’t be surprised he had something like that.

When you were sure he was asleep, you slipped downstairs to take a look at the rest of the house. Thankfully, there wasn’t too much out of place. It made you happy to see one of Dib’s magazines on the couch as well as Gaz’s game system pulled out. It was a good sign that they were feeling better. Upon entering the kitchen, you found Foodio buzzing about, cleaning and sterilizing the surfaces to where the room was absolutely immaculate.

“Oh!” the bot perked up when it caught sight of you. “Professor Membrane’s mate! Do you need anything?”

You felt your face redden some from the whole ‘mate’ thing. It seems Membrane hadn’t programmed the bot with your name yet but it somehow understood the relationship you had with the man. Either that, or Membrane liked the fact that it reminded you of who you were to him. 

“Ah… No, it’s okay. I was going to see if we had the ingredients needed for soup and Professor’s tea,” you muttered.

“Not to worry, Professor Membrane’s mate! I have everything that is needed! Professor Membrane has me programmed for illness patrol! I have seven variations of soup, six different types of tea, 32 flavors of ice cream and…”

You just listened to the extensive list of food Foodio listed off, quite impressed since this was the same bot Gaz had sabotaged just to bring you and her father together.

“That’s amazing,” you commented. 

“Thank you, Professor Membrane’s mate!” the bot clapped its oven mitted hands together. “If you need anything, don’t hesitate!”

“Thank you, Foodio. I’ll keep that in mind.”

Membrane had to eat when he got up anyway. You took this time to wash your hands then continued to wander the house and you found the door to the basement opened. Your mind called back to what he had said, that he had come up to check on the kids and got dizzy. That meant he was probably anticipating on returning to the basement and there was a chance that he may have left something on. You had only been down to the basement on occasion, mainly to get his attention when you were over but you never really stayed down there long. You and Membrane would head right back up to the house and go about any plans you had so you would have to be careful about turning anything off. 

At the bottom of the basement stairs, you found the lab had been transformed into a makeshift hospital room with two messy beds behind a transparent curtain. It looked as if Membrane had not only put the entire house under quarantine but kept everyone down in the basement for good measure. You shouldn’t have been surprised since he had become so frantic over the illness. As you moved to look into the rooms, a table nearby caught your attention. Laying on its surface in a clean, orderly fashion were the tools and medication Membrane had used for his children.

“Perfect!” you murmured softly. Knowing Membrane, they were already sterilized several times over before being laid out. A soft groan from nearby caused you to pause from gathering the tools. Was someone down there with you? “Hello?”

A grunt almost confirmed your suspicions, but when you followed it, you found a security system on the far side of the room with screens of every room in the house. The moaning came from a monitor on the bottom right corner. Upon further inspection, you recognized the room on screen as Membrane’s bedroom. The familiar figure on the bed looked to be tossing and turning in a feverish state. The sight of him weighed heavily on your heart. 

“Gaz. Gaz! Are you awake?” Dib’s hushed voice came from another monitor.

“What?” Gaz answered groggily. Glancing up, you found Dib slipping into Gaz’s bedroom and onto the bed beside her. The girl was on her side facing the wall with her head turned to look at her brother.

“I’m… worried about Dad… He’s never been sick before.”

“Dad is still human. He can get sick like anyone else. He’s probably never shown us that he can get sick to keep us from worrying,” Gaz rolled over to where her body was facing him. “Besides, Y/N is here. They won’t let anything happen to Dad.”

“Sickness would be out of Y/N’s hands though… They wouldn’t be able to stop him from… dying … if it came to that.”

“Dad’s not going to die. You heard him. He’ll strike down the Grim Reaper before it ever touches him. Besides, with Y/N here, it’ll give him even more of a reason to fight. He might feel somewhat better with them here.”

“He did say he missed them a lot…” Dib nodded.

“Don’t worry so much about Dad. We came out of this perfectly fine and we’re just kids. Dad’s a full-grown adult. Go back to bed,” Gaz murmured then rolled back over. Dib fell silent as he tapped his fingers together. The girl opened one eye and stared at the wall in front of her. “You’re still here. What?”

“Do… you think I can stay in here tonight? I don’t want to be left alone with my thoughts…” he asked quietly. Gaz let out a heavy sigh.

“Fine. Get your own blanket and pillow though.”

Without a beat, Dib bolted out of the room, beyond doorway only to return moments later with a pillow and a blanket, hopped up on the bed, then laid down beside his sister. 

“Thanks, Gaz!” he exclaimed softly as he settled down next to her.

“Mhm.”

You couldn’t help but smile at the interaction between the two. It was obvious they were worried. He was the most important person in their lives, just as they were in his. Gaz seemed to be masking her worry or she wouldn’t have allowed her brother to sleep in the same room as her. She was a total Daddy’s girl and very particular about her space. She had to be just as worried, if not more, for her father. Speaking of which… 

Looking back at the monitor in the corner you saw the figure on the bed push himself up and try to get to his feet. This caused you to jump and rush back to the stairs, but not before grabbing the tools and medication. If he was still under the effects of the medication, Membrane could hurt himself. 

Once you got to his room, you found Membrane grasping the wall and pressing his forehead against it.

“Y/N…” he groaned under his breath.

“Professor, you need to lay back down,” you quickly placed the items on the bed before moving to help him away from the wall.

“Can’t… Gotta… the kids… They’re up…”

“They’re fine. Dib’s just staying in Gaz’s room, that’s all,” you reassured him as you carefully coax him back to the bed. He must’ve heard the two talking. Gaz’s room was closest to his, if not on the other side of the wall opposite his bed. Dib must’ve felt better sleeping in the room closest to his father. “You’re going to worry them to death if you go looking for them like this.”

Membrane sat down on the edge of the bed, staring off at the wall before nodding. 

“Okay…”

When you got him settled back in, you ran your hand over his head. He wasn’t as hot, indicating the medicine was working but he was somewhat delirious. 

“Gotta finish the cure…” he started up again, trying to push himself out of bed once more but you place both hands on his feverishly warm chest to keep him from getting to his feet. “There could be others…”

“You can’t cure anything in this state either. You’re going to just have to work on getting better before you can help anyone else,” you reasoned but it put a thought in your head. Did he catch this from his kids or did he catch it trying to figure out a cure for it? You weren’t down in the basement long to recall seeing a station where he could have been working on a cure. While the first option was more likely, you couldn’t put catching the illness by chasing a cure past him. 

“The strain is hardy… If it gets out…”

“Easy. You need to rest first. You can hurt yourself if you’re not in your right mind. Now, if you’re not going to sleep, how about I go get you something to eat or maybe some tea-?”

“No, don’t leave. Not again,” he reached out to grab your hand. “…Stay here… with me…”

You allowed him to take your hand with a soft sigh. Dib’s comment of Membrane sorely missing you was brought front and center in your mind. 

“It’s all right. I’m not going anywhere, Professor.”

You slipped your hand out of his robotic one only to retrieve a chair to place next to his bedside.

“Just relax and try to sleep. I’ll be right here when you wake up.”

This settled the man back down and you felt his hand take yours again in a firm grip.

“Don’t leave…”

“I won’t.”

It was going to be a long night.


	4. Down with the sickness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You knew it was going to happen. It was unavoidable, but Membrane needed to get well first. He had priority over you in your eyes.
> 
> [Artwork by Siro-cyll](http://siro-cyll.tumblr.com)

A loud voice from downstairs made you jump to your feet in surprise. Glancing about, you realized you were still in Membrane’s bedroom and had fallen asleep in the chair beside his bed. The man himself was laying on his back with his head turned away from you, seemingly sound asleep. This made you wonder how loud the voice actually was if he hadn’t stirred. Then again, the man had been a deep sleeper. You let out a groan as you grip your head. You started to feel dizzy from how fast you moved to get up but it passed after a moment or two.

As you moved toward the door to go investigate downstairs, you paused at the sound of Membrane muttering something. He was still out when you glanced back but his head lulled to the other side. You thought you heard your name followed by something soft- was that Spanish? It definitely wasn’t English but it was too low for you to hear what it was. You couldn’t help but feel flustered at the idea of him possibly saying something to you in another language and you wouldn’t put it past him for being fluent in other languages due to his job. He was always meeting with world leaders and you remembered a time when he brought them by to show off the neighborhood and his home.

Shaking your head, you headed downstairs. He was still conked out on cold meds. It should be a while before he got back up, either to use the bathroom or whatnot. The voices of Dib and Gaz talking to Foodio rose up the stairs as you descended, relieving you of the idea that it wasn’t someone who wasn’t supposed to be there. At least it was someone who belonged there- 

Wait. That made you realize something. There was someone missing from the Membrane household. Where was Clembrane? You hadn’t seen him at all during the last month or so, not since before all of this started. Did he leave? Did something happen to him? A thought turned your stomach. Did he get sick and not make it? The kids didn’t seem upset or anything, but what if they didn’t know? It was probably best not to bring him up just in case. 

When you arrived at the kitchen, you found both Dib and Gaz sitting at the table dressed as if they were going out. Foodio had just delivered breakfast to the table (pancakes with sausage), wandered off to the far side of the room, and entered sleep mode.

“Morning, Y/N,” Gaz opened an eye to look at you, still looking a bit sleepy.

“Morning…” you started slowly. “What are you two doing up?”

The kids glanced at each other then shrugged.

“Getting ready for school,” Dib answered. You stepped into the kitchen, looking between the two.

“Are… you sure you two are well enough to go?”

“Oh yeah,” Dib nodded, taking a bite of pancake. “We’ve already scanned ourselves. The strain has run its course for us. Like most flu strains, you can’t catch the same strain twice. Er, or you can, but it’s extremely rare.”

“Scanned yourselves?” you muttered.

“Dad has a body scanner in the basement,” Gaz nodded toward the basement door. “He invented it a while back for this sort of thing. It helps him figure out if it’s a common bug or something new like this before working on a treatment.”

“I see…”

Both kids frowned at the fact that you didn’t seem convinced at their explanation. With how their father was, you weren’t so sure if it was such a good idea for them to be out only to get sick again. Dib pointed with his fork to the basement when he was done eating.

“The results for each of the scans is downstairs on Dad’s desk if you want to look at them. We both came back with a clean bill of health.”

You nodded once more and automatically made your way to the basement, debating if it was okay for them to leave the house with Membrane in the state he was in. Even if they were better, wouldn’t they still infect anyone they come in contact with if their items weren’t cleaned properly?

Arriving at the bottom of the stairs, you headed for the area where you picked up the items to find two pages that weren’t there the night before. At the top of the papers were Dib and Gaz’s real names as well as the information on their scans. Sure enough, at the bottom was a green checkmark indicating that they were clear.

“Good…” You muttered under your breath. The soft whirr of a machine that you had just glanced over the night before made you look up. It stood against the wall nearby on a mobile crate, not far from the beds hidden behind the transparent curtain. You had a good hunch that it was the body scanner since the machines from the night before had been either turned off or put into sleep mode. This one was still on. A quick glance over the machine’s buttons and such proved to be pretty straight forward. It was made with the children in mind, possibly to be patented as such as well if Membrane were to release it to the public. You could easily scan yourself without any incident.

Glancing back to the stairs behind you to make sure you weren’t followed, you pulled off your hazmat suit before reaching for a wand-like device attached to the machine by a spiral cord. Following any prompts the machine gave you, you waved the wand over yourself and set it back down. It felt like the wait for the results took forever and you were almost certain one of the kids would come down and find you before they were ready but the machine pinged triumphantly. A page began to print out at the bottom which you tear off once it was finished.

“Let’s see…”

You thought the results would have shown up at the bottom of the page like the kids’ did but yours had ‘infected, seek medical treatment immediately. Quarantine imminent’ written in large, red, bolded letters across the entire page. Though you had expected it, your heart still sank. You were at least hoping that you were careful enough not to catch it. 

None of the symptoms had surfaced for you yet, making you wonder how long you had been infected. This didn’t seem like a normal strain of the flu but you couldn’t be certain. You didn’t have all the information needed to make such a call. With a sigh and a heavy heart, you put the hazmat suit back on. Professor Membrane was still sick and he didn’t need to worry about you getting sick either. He had to focus on getting better. If you needed to, you could just start taking the medication on the side to stave off the symptoms as long as possible.

Back in the kitchen, you found that the kids had already picked up their lunches from Foodio and were ready to head out the door.

“I can’t wait to see the look on Zim’s face when he sees that we beat his stupid little flu!” Dib grinned triumphantly.

“That’s even if it came from Zim,” Gaz grunted. “But if it did, I’m going to make him pay for making Dad sick…”

“... But what about us?” Dib blinked. Gaz just stared at him for a moment then shrugged as she headed out the door. 

“We survived. Dad’s still suffering.”

You frowned at Gaz’s words as you followed them to the door, glancing up the stairs as you passed.

“Just don’t start anything if you don’t have any proof,” you sighed softly. “We don’t want to stress your dad. It could make him worse.”

Dib paused then nodded with a depressed tone.

“Yeah, okay. I won’t.”

“Good. Now, don’t miss the bus.”

With Membrane asleep upstairs, you didn’t see much harm in standing in the doorway with the quarantine curtain up to watch the kids wait for the bus. The three of you joked and shot the breeze for at least an hour before you realized that the bus had not shown up at all. After some deliberation, the kids decided that walking was their best bet as they had already missed too much school being sick and wanted to get back to some form of normalcy. They waved back at you while heading off down the street.

“Be careful heading to school,” you called out. You found it odd that the bus hadn’t shown up yet but there was always a chance that the driver had gone through earlier. With a deep sigh, you let the curtain back down and headed back inside just in time to see a tall lumbering figure with wilted black hair, pasty skin, silver arms, and dark blue boxers wander into the kitchen and out of sight. 

“Professor!” you chided immediately, chasing after the man who had haphazardly sat down at the table, forehead pressed to the surface in a position that reminded you of the day you first saw his robotic arms. “What are you doing up?!”

He lifted his head to look at you with a fevered, bewildered expression, or one you could piece together from beyond his goggles. He still wore his face mask.

“You really are here…” His voice was weak but held a surprised tone.

“Of course I am here! Gaz came and got me last night. Don’t you remember? I helped you get out of the bathroom and into your bed.”

“Hm. I thought it was all a dream…”

You frowned some. He probably didn’t remember much of last night. You moved to his side, running your hand over his shoulder blades as he slumped back down on the table. He let out a groan and you could feel him move as if showing you where it felt best.

“No, I’m here. I wouldn’t let you go through this on your own.”

Foodio perked up from his place in the corner and moved forward to prepare Membrane’s usual tea as well as his breakfast.

“Would you like anything, Professor Membrane’s mate?” Foodio chirped.

“Ah, no. Nothing right now,” you answered softly. “I better go get the medicine for him so he can take it with food-”

“No!” Membrane pushed himself up enough to turn and wrap his arms around your waist to keep you from leaving. You were able to stand where he could rest his forehead on your stomach, which compelled you to run a hand over his head softly. “Don’t leave.”

“I didn’t leave you last night, and I won’t leave you now,” you cooed. “I just need to go upstairs and-”

The sound of the door opening caused you to perk your head.

“Hello?” you called out cautiously. No one should have passed the quarantine curtain. Moments later, Dib and Gaz appeared in the kitchen doorway, looking a bit miffed. “You two are back already? What about school?”

“School’s been quarantined,” Dib muttered under his breath as he headed upstairs for his room. “The whole building is covered in the same curtain and blocked off on all sides. It looks like the lice epidemic all over again.”

“One of the crossing guards said all the kids came down with the strain,” Gaz explained. You could tell that she badly wanted to go to her father but she was well aware of what her father wanted.

“That’s unfortunate,” you sighed. Membrane suddenly pushed himself out of your arms and forced himself to his feet with a growl. “What? Professor, what are you doing?”

Without warning, Gaz bolted for the basement door, slammed it shut and stood there with her arms out, glaring up at the man.

“Have to… work on… cure,” he grunted. “All those kids…”

“No! You need to rest first!” Gaz protested as her father ushered her out of the way and went to open the door. “You could hurt yourself! You can’t even walk straight, Dad! Y/N!”

Before Gaz even called for you, you had moved forward to shut the door. He would have a harder time trying to move you since you could plant your feet better than the girl could.

“Your daughter gave you an order, Professor. I suggest you listen to her or you’ll make her more upset.”

“But I-”

“No buts. If you want the cure made so badly, call Simmons and have him take your research back to Membrane labs,” Gaz slipped between you and her father now that there was another line of defense. “He knows how to follow your instructions.

After coaxing Membrane into calling his assistant, you were able to convince him to return to bed. You had left Gaz in charge of gathering the research and meeting Simmons outside so you could focus on her father.

“I want to speak with him,” Membrane grumbled.

“I’ll relay any messages you want to give him but we have to keep him healthy too, Professor,” you explained softly, running a cool rag over his forehead to help his feverish state. He began to list off some points, some that had nothing to do with the sickness which meant he was slightly delusional. You made a mental note of anything you found important but discarded the rest as the ramblings of a very ill man. Once he was done, you made a deal with him. He had to take his meds and stay in bed for you to pass on the messages which he complied to. You were relieved at this considering you had prepared yourself for a fight from the stubborn man. 

* * *

Days passed slowly for you but you could see that Membrane was getting stronger. Soon, he was no longer confined to the bed and it was almost like chasing a toddler when he realized he had so much to do. He was elated that he could get some work done before the illness caught up with him and made him tired and it was great to see him perked up again. His voice was back to its normal pitch and his dramatic flair had returned. He also elected to get dressed this time before bounding down the stairs to the kitchen ahead of you.

Unfortunately for you, the cold medicine only did so much. The medication helped with the nausea and kept the fever at bay but the weakness was coming on full force. You tried your damnedest to keep your focus on Membrane. You didn’t want to show that you were sick just yet, not until you were sure he was able to hold his own. Thankfully, the hazmat suit kept him from seeing the signs. 

“You sure you’re okay?” you called after him, following him down the stairs. You were sure not to let your voice crack or wane the best you could. “You don’t feel dizzy or anything, huh?”

“I told you, I’m fine!” he chuckled, disappearing at the bottom of the stairs.

“Good,” you murmured, leaning against the wall. A wave of nausea hit you hard but you were able to gulp it down as you made your way to down. Once you reached the doorway of the kitchen, you found Membrane tinkering with a floating screen to turn it on. Foodio was bustling once more with breakfast as Dib and Gaz played video games on the couch in their pajamas. It seemed like everything was returning to normal.

“Hey, stay on your side of the couch, cheater!” Gaz growled when Dib nudged into her.

“I’m not the one button-mashing!” Dib shot back and nudged into her again.

“You’d wish I was button-mashing!”

You couldn’t help but smile and shake your head at the two as they bickered.

“Oh good! It’s back online!” Membrane beamed as the floating screen flickered on, showing a familiar outline of his assistant, Simmons.

“It’s good to see you up and about, sir! What do you need?”

“It’s good to be up, Simmons! Now, how far along have you gotten with my instructions?” Membrane sat back in one of the chairs with his arms crossed. Foodio set a cup of tea on the table before turning to you.

“Good Morning!” he greeted pleasantly but paused with a frown. He wheeled up to you with a hushed tone. “Are you okay? My scanners are detecting heat coming from you, much higher than a normal human body would be.”

You stared at the robot and gave a hesitant nod. He could expose you right here if you weren’t careful. Membrane must’ve programmed him to scan the kids whenever they were in the kitchen to keep tabs on them so they didn’t go to school sick. It had to be how he realized his kids were sick at the beginning of all of this. 

“Y-Yes, I’m fine,” you smiled the best you could behind the hazmat shield. “Just focus on Professor right now.”

“But he has a normal temperature of 98.6. Yours is much, much higher. If Foodio 3000 may, I can alert Professor Membrane-”

“No!” you gasped, lowering your own voice. “He has a lot on his plate right now. Do what he needs first. I’ll tell him myself when I feel the time is right. Okay?”

“If… you are sure…” Foodio nodded before returning to the table. You breathed a sigh of relief for the moment. Membrane still had work he needed to do, especially bringing together the rest of his research in order to help the kids and parents dealing with the strain. 

“You can take that off now,” Membrane’s voice made you look up. He was looking directly at you as the screen with Simmon’s face floated behind him. “I believe the contagious period is over with. I’ve set the quarantine tent to be taken down and the house has been sterilized thanks to Foodio 3000. There is no way you can become infected, now.”

“Oh… Ah... Okay, I’ll go… do that now…” you chuckled weakly, thumbing over your shoulder.

“When you come back down, we’ll talk about what to do tonight for dinner. I’m thinking about going out…” he started to ramble on as you pulled yourself out of sight.

“... Sounds good…” you muttered back, starting to feel the illness bring you down further. You made your way back up the stairs. Maybe if you just sat down in the bathroom for a short time, you could probably pull yourself together and push through. Once you were at the top of the stairs, you pulled off the hazmat helmet with the relief that no one in the house could catch the strain again so easily. The cooler air felt great on your skin. It was so much better than being stuck in that helmet. 

You wander toward the bathroom as your vision started to fade in and out. 

“Not. Yet,” you chided under your breath. “Just… not yet…”

Your hands move to the zipper of the suit as a heatwave fell over you. It felt as if the suit was trying to cook you now. Why did you not notice this before?

You nearly fall over as you kick the suit off your legs and stumble into the bathroom, thankfully catching the sink before you fell. With the rest of your strength, you raise your eyes to a mirror to see how much your skin had discolored from the illness. It was a huge red flag. There was no way you were going to be able to pass yourself off as well without the hazmat suit. The dark circles under your eyes were in sharp contrast from the rest of your skin. You almost looked dead. 

A chuckle escaped your throat the more you thought about this. You would have killed Membrane for hiding sickness from you, yet here you were doing that exact thing.

“He’s got more to do…” you reasoned. “He needs to be well… and his attention needs to be elsewhere…”

_ ‘If he lost you, you know he would absolutely lose it,’ _ your voice responded. You knew your mouth didn’t move. You glanced up once more to see your reflection glaring back at you. Oh no. You were hallucinating.  _ ‘What makes you think you’re any less important to him than the people he wants to help? You need to tell him!’ _

“He’ll find out soon enough…”

_ ‘By then it could be too late. People die from illnesses like these. Professor can’t bring you back from the dead- well, he probably could, but you know how he feels about it,’ _ the reflection crossed their arms.

“He-”

_ ‘No, there’s no excuse for this. You need to tell him. You’d want him to tell you. You have to be open and honest with him.’ _

You went quiet for a moment, the conversation sinking in. With a sigh, you pushed yourself off of the sink.

“Damn it, I hate talking to you…”

_ ‘Because you know I’m right.’ _

“Yeah, yeah… Stupid hallucination… makin’ sense...”

You had to wonder if Membrane did this while being sick and what his hallucination had to say.

_ ‘Oh, well. Maybe the thump will get his attention.’ _

“Wha?” you muttered.

_ ‘You’re about to pass out.’ _

“Oh… That’s nice…”

You felt a wave of what felt like ice water crash over you as your knees gave in. The bathroom began to spin as if it were a very odd carousel set in a downward spiral. It was enough to rip you away from the sink and causing toiletries to scatter on the floor. For a long moment, the movement felt great but then-

**-CRASH- **

Pain filled your head and your surroundings became hazier. A crash in the distance followed as well as a flurry of heavy footsteps came toward you. As your vision began to fade, a large, dark figure appeared in the doorway and lunged toward you but before it could touch you, you lost consciousness.

“Y/N!”

* * *

Gentle movement on the other side of the room made you open your eyes. Your surroundings were strange, almost hospital-like but it was no hospital you had ever been in. The lights were very low with machines beeping and whirring around you softly. You winced slightly when you tried to move. A stinging in your arm made you glance down to see what looked to be the needle attached to a hanging IV bag stuck in your right arm. 

_ What happened to you to need that? _

Your head ached subtly as you tried to think back to the last thing you could remember. When you reached up to rub your head, you found it bandaged. 

“Wha…?”

Before you could come to that conclusion, more movement pricked your ears. It was the sound of someone walking across the floor, shuffling some quickly as if trying to find something. The profile of a tall, dark formless figure appeared on the other side of the curtain, reaching for something on what you could guess was the small table where you found those tools days ago. 

You watched quietly as it moved about, squinting some to try to understand what it was doing. Part of you hoped whatever it was didn’t know you were there in the dim light due to the almost monstrous form. You felt the want to crawl under your bed to avoid this thing in case it decided to come into the room. Every horror movie started to fill your head the more you watched the figure move.

A certain gesture made your eyes snap open wide. An arm reached upward with what looked to be a syringe with a very long needle in the hand and it squeezed the plunger just enough for some unknown liquid to come out. Your heart nearly leaped into your throat as a small panic-filled you, mainly at the sight of how big the needle seemed. 

You jerked back violently in your bed, causing it to moan loudly which alerted the figure. Its head turned toward you as you started to look for another way out of the small room you were in. No matter where you looked, you began to realize that the only way out was through the curtain where the figure was. You quickly kicked off the white sheets that covered you and stumbled some while gripping onto your IV stand just as the curtain crinkled back, telling you the figure had entered. 

Without a second thought, you picked up the IV stand with the feet of it pointed at the figure in front of you with a growl until you could think of something better to do. Your back was pretty much facing a wall at that moment. You were trapped and for some reason, you began to feel feverish and weak again. The IV stand was quickly becoming heavier and heavier. The figure only moved closer, this time more cautiously. You could feel it staring at you, making you feel even more uneasy as you backed up into the wall and tried to keep the IV stand up to be as threatening as possible. 

“D-Don’t come near me!” you growled the best you could. Unfortunately, it ended up being more of a weak moan. A soft, warm, familiar chuckle dropped your guard immediately.

“I don’t think you have the strength to swing it at me, Y/N. Please, put it down. I don’t want you hurt more than you already are,” Professor Membrane’s voice called out. An appendage reached out from figure and clicked on a light on the wall over your bed. You flinched hard, shutting your eyes tightly from the harsh white and you felt the stand being gently tugged out of your grip. You almost didn’t want to let go but the man’s voice cooing convinced you that you weren’t in any danger. You kept your eyes shut, only opening them to try to adjust to the light as you were coaxed back to the bed. “You’re safe. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

Once you felt the soft surface under you, you curled your legs up as the sheets were draped back over your lap. The fear waned quickly, leaving you feeling dizzy and nauseated with a groan. A cold, metal surface pressed against your cheek, causing you to open your eyes to look at Professor Membrane as he sat on the bed in front of you. You began to recognize the area and the fact that you only saw this room from the other side of the curtain days before.

“I’m sorry. I should have paid more attention to you when it came to the strain. I guess I let the excitement of coming up with a cure blind me,” he murmured softly. “I should have never let it get as far as it did.”

“Professor, wha-?” you started but paused when you registered that something was different. Of course, the cold metal on your cheek made you realize it was his palm and that he wasn’t wearing his gloves on either arm. His coat sleeves were just turned up above the elbow as they usually were. Speaking of his coat, you found that from the chest up, it was opened, revealing a black shirt underneath and the lower half of his-

You couldn’t help but stare at the man before you. You had theories of what he was hiding under his collar but none of them held up to what you saw before you. It then dawned on you that he wasn’t wearing his goggles either. A pair of dark brown eyes peered down at you with one of the most loving expressions you’ve ever seen.

“W-Wow…” you whispered, finding it hard to hold back a smile which earned you another chuckle.   
“Is that a good ‘wow’ or a bad one?” he smirked slightly. He actually smirked! You were not used to seeing actual, readable expressions from this man. It became so much, that you shyly dropped your gaze to your hands as they played with the sheets. The robotic hand that was on your cheek moved down to take one of your hands and held it firmly. “I’ll take that is a good ‘wow’.”

You stumbled over your words, trying to ask why he thought it was okay to show you now without sounding disappointed. You were far from it.

“Consider it a thank you for not taking advantage of it when I was sick,” he answered. “You could have easily not given me that face mask and removed my goggles without my consent. I appreciate you thinking about me like that.”

You couldn’t tell if the heat on your face was from being flustered or feverish from earlier. The more he spoke, the more you remembered about the past week.

“I… wanted you to feel as comfortable as possible…” you finally murmured. “Taking that from you probably make you feel worse… I mean, you made it pretty obvious you preferred it that way…”

“Hm. Regardless, thank you.”

Your gaze, still on your hands followed his robotic one up as it took your chin and made you look up at him. With a soft expression, the man moved closer to you in a way that made your heart leap. His hand left your chin and moved back down to take your hand again, only this time he pulled it toward him. Your attention remained on him, his eyes mostly but you wanted to take as much in as possible, just in case it was a dream-

A sudden prick in the bend of your arm made you jump and cry out.

“SON OF A-” you gasped as you glanced down to see the syringe that caused you to panic minutes earlier sticking out of your arm. A dark blue liquid inside was quickly emptied into your vein and the tool was removed. Membrane’s other hand moved lightning-fast from his pocket to produce a small patch of gauze with tape to cover the area. You looked between your arm and him, mouth opening and closing a couple of times before it formed words. The feelings of betrayal and hurt started to swell in your chest, mostly in the form of anger. “What was that?! You sneaky-!”

“I’m sorry. With the way you panicked, I wasn’t sure if you would willingly let me administer that,” he explained, rubbing the side of your arm. “It’s the cure I had been working on before I fell ill. It was strengthened to the point of eradicating that strain entirely within a day.”

“O-Oh…”

Most of the anger drained immediately at the explanation but you still pouted with your arms crossed at the fact that he made it out to be something entirely different. You felt his hands take your forearms and he leaned in, setting his forehead against yours to look you in the eyes.

“Now, none of that. I’ll make it up to you once the strain is eradicated from your body. I promise,” he purred softly. You couldn’t help but stare into those dark pools once more. Just something about them was so mesmerizing. You had only seen them behind blue-tinted glass since you first met the man. Trying hard not to smile and failing, you gave a soft sigh.

“Fine.”

“Good. You should start feeling better soon. I’ve already had the rest of the cure delivered to the kids’ school. The disease should be nonexistent by the end of today. I’m just thankful there were no casualties from this strain.”

“You’re amazing. You know that, right?”

“I’ve been told that-”

“WHAT IS  _ HE _ DOING HERE?!” Dib’s voice boomed from upstairs which made the two of you look to the ceiling.

“UNHAND ZIM! I AM YOUR MASTER!” another voice screeched, one you did not recognize.

“Nothin’ doin’! Youse needs da shot too!” Clembrane’s voice followed. 

“NEVER! ZIM NEEDS NO SHOT! RELEASE ME!”

His heavy footsteps came down the stairs toward you, causing you and Membrane to exchange glances. The man quickly pulled down his goggles over his eyes and went to cover his lower half but paused. Without warning, he leaned in and gently kissed you on the forehead with a hand placed behind your head.

“I owe you a real kiss later. And a night out,” he chuckled softly before pulling his cowl up over his mouth and nose. He moved quickly, retrieving a pair of black gloves from his coat pocket and putting them on while pushing himself up off the cot. Just as he went to slip out, something dropped from your mouth so casually that it made you start to panic. You had to keep yourself from covering your mouth or look absolutely appalled with yourself. The man paused and snapped his attention back to you, almost as if he was stunned from the three little words. 

“I love you, too, Y/N,” he answered in a soft, warm, genuine tone. “I’ll be right back.”

When he finally exited your room, you grabbed your pillow and screamed into it as hard as you could. Where the hell did that come from?! Was that even the right time to say something like that?! UGH!

_ ‘But he said it back.’ _

Great. Now you were talking to yourself again and you couldn’t even be angry. Your delusional-hallucination voice was right. He did say it back. The fact he said it back made you hug the pillow some and fall back against the bed, cuddling it. God, did you wish it was him...

The screeching made your head perk up and just beyond the curtain, you could see Clembane appear with the green child you knew as ‘Zim’ being held by his head. He looked a bit paler than normal.

“YOU?! WHAT DO YOU WANT WITH ZIM, DIB-FATHER!?”

The soft chuckle Membrane gave as he explained the situation was enough to melt your heart. It was as if he was talking to one of his own children. 

“Now, now. There’s no need for all this fuss. Trust me, you’ll feel better in no time after this.”

“NOOO! NOOOOO!” Zim shrieked, beating his little fists against the large hand on his head as both men walked out of view. “I SHALL MAKE YOU ALL SUFFER FOR THIS!”

You knew Membrane couldn’t do for him what he did for you. Clembrane’s chuckle as he helped to ease the boy made you smile. As much as he annoyed you, you were relieved he was okay. In Membrane fashion, he must've been worried about the boy and went to care for him.

“It will ah’ll be ovur soon!” Clembrane reassured. “It’z juss a wittle needle!”

“Little nothing,” you muttered to yourself as you rubbed the site of the needle prick. Though, with the way he screamed, you wondered if the boy was even sick at all.

“WHOA, LOOKIT THE SIZE OF THAT NEEDLE- GET THAT AWAY FROM ME! NO!” Zim screamed. “DON’T TOUCH ME! I BITE! RELEASE ZIM! NOOOOOOOO!”

“You may need to hold him still,” Membrane ordered as Zim started screaming at the top of his lungs. Among the screams, you could hear Dib laughing from the stairway.

“WHINER!” Gaz yelled over the screeching and laughing.

  
  



	5. Winter Distraction 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Christmas time! (Not really, just a piece that I was writing for that time before depression and crap set in and pulled me away from my writing. Don't listen to the Easter Platypus. Just pretend it's Christmas again.) You know what that means! Professor Membrane is about ready to kill Santa but before that could happen, his kids decided it would be best to have a family get-away to a private lodge in the mountains with you in tow!

Wintertime. Professor Membrane’s favorite time of the year and you knew it. He wouldn’t stop talking about it once the weather started turning cold. For your first winter together, he insisted on ‘getting away from it all’ by borderline kidnapping you under the guise of a company trip only to end up at a ski resort in the middle of nowhere. Well, the place the four of you were staying in was a private lodge that overlooked a large ski resort anyway. As for the ‘business’ part of it, Professor Membrane had a five-minute call that he referred to as a ‘meeting’ on the way to the lodge, told Simmons to not bother him for the week unless it was an emergency, and promptly shut off his phone.  
You wanted to chalk this behavior up to his love of skiing and tubing but part of you believed the kids had talked him into it for a pressing matter. It was no secret that the man hated Santa for not getting what he wanted for Christmas as a kid (it was highlighted several times in his autobiography which you still hadn’t fully read yet) and you began to piece together some details that made you wonder if he was preparing to throw hands, robot hands, with the fat man himself that year.  
Professor started to act strangely the closer it got to Christmas. If you wandered too close to someone who was dressed as Santa or stopped to chat with those donation drive Santas, you felt a familiar hand on your shoulder that pulled you away. This was followed by a distrusting glare toward the unfortunate actor and muttered insults that you believed were directed toward the genuine article. Then there was the recent incident where you caught Dib trying to desperately hide a heat-seeking, ground-to-air missile launcher he claimed to have found in his father’s closet in that mess of a garage. Strange. You knew it wasn’t there the night before when you stayed over.  
“What else could it be for?” Dib replied when you brushed off the idea that it was to be used to shoot down Santa’s sleigh. “He doesn’t believe in aliens and he practically has the military under his thumb.”  
That was a bit concerning, honestly. When you tried to bring it up to Professor over breakfast, he laughed and dismissed the concern then proceeded to the back door to ‘look for the lawnmower’. One, he had been using that line to try to be sneaky one too many times and two, it was snowing outside. He didn’t need the lawnmower.  
“Might be time for an intervention,” you remembered Gaz muttering when she appeared next to you. “Before he realizes he could just use the lasers in his arms to shoot Santa down.”  
“Agreed,” you sighed, watching the man dig through the mess that was his garage. “That too.”  
There wasn’t much time between that conversation and the trip which made you think that Gaz had convinced her father that this was a good idea. You just wished she had also convinced him to talk to you about it before snatching you the moment you opened your front door to him and throwing you in the ‘Membrane Mobile’ without a second thought. Not that you actually had any plans, though. It would be another Christmas away from any family you had or, better yet, any family that was willing to talk to you. If it weren’t for your relationship with Membrane, it would have been just you home alone on this Christmas Eve, watching whatever old school animated shows that came on for the holiday.  
A pair of arms donned in blue and white sleeves belonging to a Membrane Lab’s “ugly Christmas Sweater” wrapped around you from behind, bringing you back to reality.  
“Enjoying the view?” a soft, deep voice purred playfully in your ear.  
You couldn’t help but smile and realize that you had been standing at a floor-length window, looking out over a twilight, snowy setting with a warm cup of your favorite drink in a ‘ML’ mug in your hands. The room you stood in was very cozy and one you would see in most winter specials, complete with a roaring fireplace against one wall. A white Christmas tree stood in the corner, decorated with more (you guessed it) Membrane Lab-esque decorations. There were some gifts, compliments of the lodge staff and some from the professor’s allies under the tree, but the ones from the family were hidden away to keep the two kids from guessing what they got that year.   
“Of course,” you chuckled, leaning turning your head to rest your temple against him. “It’s beautiful out here.”  
Other than the threat of your boyfriend killing Santa, your relationship with the man had blossomed exponentially over the previous months. It was still under wraps, with only the people closest to you and the Professor knowing about it so as to keep the stress of the public eye off of that. You thought it would be better if the attention was placed on Professor Membrane’s achievements instead and he respected that. You were also afraid that people would start hounding the man you’ve come to adore about what he was hiding under his collar if the two of you were caught canoodling in public. The last thing either of you needed was someone rushing up during an intimate gesture and ripping away his collar to show what he had been hiding all this time.  
So, as far as anyone outside of the loop was concerned, you were still the ‘helpful neighbor’ and someone to help him with the kids. This also caused you to postpone moving in with the family until you two were ready to reveal the relationship. It had become very tempting to do so several times already.  
Professor’s chest rumbled with a light-hearted laugh as he pulled away to turn you to him, revealing that he was wearing a face mask across the lower half of his face once more.  
“Good, I’m glad you think so. Come, sit with me.”   
Taking one of your hands away from the mug, he led you away from the window to an overstuffed brown couch with a red blanket draped over it. You allowed yourself to follow without any hesitation and placed the mug down on the coffee table before feeling yourself being pulled once more, this time by the hips, into the man’s lap. Your face flushed some when you found yourself sitting on him but slowly accepted your fate and laid your side against him, nuzzling any part of him that you could reach with a soft giggle. He had become brazen with how he handled you lately. Nothing forceful or anything, but he was a lot more confident than he was when you started out. He picked up quickly on when to touch you and when not to. His hand moved across your legs to pull them closer to him while he returned the nuzzles. Through this treatment, a sudden thought entered your head and you sat up straight with a suspicious look.  
“Where are the kids?” you narrowed your eyes as they darted about the room. You were still a bit skittish with becoming intimate to any degree with the man knowing his kids and Clembrane could walk in at any point. At least pinpointing their approximate whereabouts helped ease your anxiety of being caught.  
“Playing in the snow,” Professor shrugged. Behind you, a loud ‘THONG’ rang out and when the two of you looked, you saw the back of Dib’s entire body plastered against the window from being pelted hard by a large snowball.   
“GOTCHA! THAT’S FOR EATING THE LAST PIZZA SLICE!” Gaz’s voice rang out as she laughed maniacally. Dib peeled himself off of the glass before disappearing with a loud vow to get her back.  
“It’s good to see them getting along,” their father sighed, rubbing a spot on your leg.  
“Yeah…” you nodded slowly then raised a brow. “And Clembrane?”  
“Oh, he went off somewhere earlier, saying something about skiing lessons,” he chortled. “He’ll probably find some new friends there.”  
“Those poor people,” you muttered under your breath, remembering the last time Clembrane brought a ‘friend’ home which turned out to be a kidnapped stocker from the local store. Better them than you, you supposed. With everyone accounted for, you returned to cuddling with the professor who only pulled you as close as humanly possible. “At least everyone is accounted for. So, what did you have in mind for this evening?”   
“Well, some of the ski slopes I was hoping to hit were closed off due to an avalanche before we got here so… when I saw you standing there, I decided that a night-in might be better.”  
The two of you sat there, close to one another as you talked about making arrangements for the next day after gifts were exchanged. Professor was adamant about taking you sledding with him, stating it was something he had on his mind the moment the idea of coming to the ski lodge was brought up. You didn’t mind this. The more time spent with him and the kids, the better and it sounded like a lot of fun. He listed off a bunch of ideas, such as a horse and buggy ride through an area of the woods where the lodge had decorated with a ton of lights for the season, attending a large feast that was held at the lodge for dinner, etc. While you conversed, a soft, jingling sound started and steadily grew closer but you thought nothing of it. It was Christmas time, after all.   
“Oh no…” Dib’s voice gasped from behind the front door as heavy footsteps creaked on the porch outside. “No! You don’t want to do that! Trust me! Clembrane-!”  
“Clembrane, where did you-?! No!” Gaz yelled out. Without a further warning, the front door swung open and the large red clone known as Clembrane burst into the room, arms raised high in the air and donning a familiar red suit with a white fluffy substance around his neck that was meant to be a beard. It was quite obvious this was not Santa at all.  
“MERRWY CWISMAS!” Clembrane belted out. “SANTA CWAUSE IS HERE AN HE’S GOAHT PWESENCE!”  
You could not react fast enough to stop what came next. The pain in your backside hadn’t registered in your brain yet as the man who was once under you leaped to his feet. It finally dawned on you that Professor had essentially yeeted you off his lap and onto the floor in order to jump up onto the couch, take aim with his left hand, and blast a searing ray of blue light at his clone. Clembrane was hit square in the chest and launched backward out of the doorway he just came in. Dib and Gaz leaned into view soon after, looking at the aftermath as the arm Membrane used hissed and released steam. The blue and white sweater he was wearing was now missing a sleeve.  
“Hate to say I told you so,” Dib sighed as you pushed yourself up off of the ground. Professor wasted no time leaping off of the couch and rushing out to find the ‘Santa’ he just shot.  
“Where did he go?!” you heard the man snarl and the kids tried desperately to deter another attack.  
“Professor!” you called after him, scrambling to the door to help the kids and assess the damage done to Clembrane but once you reached the door, you found a straight line of trees where Clembrane would have been thrown had been violently felled. There were fifteen in total. At the end of the destructive trail, you watched as the clone sat up in what used to be a Santa Claus outfit looking singed but mostly unphased. There was no way he was anything earthly if he survived that, you reckoned. Dib’s ramblings of aliens began to sound a bit more plausible the more you found out about Clembrane. Well, whatever he was, at least he was flame retardant.  
“Oim okie!” he waved back toward you. Professor Membrane pretty much ignored him in favor of looking for this intrusive Santa that he still believed was ‘out there’. He even had his right arm up in offense, ready to incinerate the sleeve off of that side of the sweater at the drop of a hat.  
“Dad, that was Clembrane in a Santa suit. There’s no rogue Santa busting down doors and threatening to hand out presents,” Gaz motioned toward the clone who began to waddle the destroyed trek back to the lodge.   
“Oh…” the scientist muttered softly and finally lowered his arm. “My mistake then. Sorry about that!”  
Clembrane waved his hand in dismissal as he approached the family.  
“Awww dat’s okie! I shouldn’ve scawrd you wike that. I didn’ know you were scawrd of Santa Cwaus!” the large bulbous red man grinned. “Anyway, let’s go get da prewesents!”  
You stepped aside, watching the clone enter the house while Membrane muttered something about not being scared of ‘Santa Cwaus’ and sulking after him. Clembrane often surprised you with how forgiving he was. You could probably kill his dog for standing out in its own backyard and he’d apologize to you for it. Seeing Membrane’s pout and traces of red around his face mask from embarrassment, you couldn’t help but give a small smile and stop him.  
“You know what? How about we go sledding now? Just to clear our heads from the incident?” you thumbed over your shoulder. “There’s just enough light out in order to get a few rides out of our system.”  
With several exchanged glances, it was decided and the five of you gathered everything you needed for sledding and headed to the nearest slope with a still-sulking Professor Membrane.


End file.
